diff --git a/sdks/java/io/google-cloud-platform/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/sdk/io/gcp/bigquery/BatchLoads.java b/sdks/java/io/google-cloud-platform/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/sdk/io/gcp/bigquery/BatchLoads.java
index 16b96bf870c7..aca0c69a2524 100644
--- a/sdks/java/io/google-cloud-platform/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/sdk/io/gcp/bigquery/BatchLoads.java
+++ b/sdks/java/io/google-cloud-platform/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/sdk/io/gcp/bigquery/BatchLoads.java
@@ -696,7 +696,9 @@ private PCollection<KV<TableDestination, WriteTables.Result>> writeTempTables(
                 kmsKey,
                 rowWriterFactory.getSourceFormat(),
                 useAvroLogicalTypes,
-                schemaUpdateOptions))
+                // Note that we can't pass through the schema update options when creating temporary
+                // tables. They also shouldn't be needed. See BEAM-12482 for additional details.
+                Collections.emptySet()))
         .setCoder(KvCoder.of(tableDestinationCoder, WriteTables.ResultCoder.INSTANCE));
   }